Vacation Fun and Games

On our first day at the cottage my son found a bag full of board games in the garage. There was simply no question that we were going to play each and every game in the bag and within minutes I was reviewing the long-forgotten rules to Chinese checkers.

The marbles had just started to dance when my daughter uncovered Monopoly, the classic game from Parker Brothers, and we’ve had a family game going ever since.

There are three teams-myself, my daughter and a combined entry of my wife and my son. My son rolls the dice for his team and what a spectacle that is. It begins with a fanfare, sung loudly as he rolls the dice around in his hands, stopping only when someone urges him to “please roll!” He slowly and deliberately counts eat dot and is quick to scold anyone who attempts to help or otherwise speed up the process. He’s all about the action and cares little about the play of the game beyond dramatic dice rolling, slow counting and the exchanging of coloured paper. Excitement overtakes him and he needs to be reminded that crawling onto the table on all fours, standing on the game itself, and kicking game pieces onto the floor are not enjoyable actions for the other players.

My daughter might not realize that Monopoly is just a game. Her focus on acquiring properties, building houses and hotels, and amassing wealth is so intense that she may truly believe she is moving into Marvin Gardens once the renovations are complete. She’s learning a lot about negotiation and leverage and teaching us about greed.

I’ve had quite a bit of time to think about the game and how much fun we’re having as a family during my many periods of incarceration. I’m not sure what life was like in 1935, when the game was first launched, but apparently real estate investors were often jailed. Worse yet, they also had to live with the embarrassment of losing their $200 salary for not passing “Go.”

My wife thinks I’m trying to take advantage of my daughter in property trades and laughs at my misfortune, calling it karma.

You may be right dear, but we’ll see who’s laughing when I’m banging my cup against the bars and you need $200 for groceries!